BAKED CUTLETS

HEALTH CONSIDERATIONS ASIDE, SAUTÉING is our preferred method for cooking a chicken cutlet. The thick, brown crust and tender, juicy interior cannot be duplicated by any other cooking method. Grilling is a good low-fat alternative to sautéing but there are no pan juices with which to make a sauce. In many cases, it is the pan sauce that makes bland cutlets worth eating. Also, grilling is not always an option.

We identified two lower-fat options for cooking boneless chicken cutlets: baking in an open pan and enclosing the cutlets and seasonings in parchment paper or foil packets and then baking, or "steaming," the chicken in the oven.

BAKED CHICKEN CUTLETS

We decided to focus first on baking the cutlets in an open pan. (For information on oven-steaming). We wanted to develop a technique that could be used year-round and that would also give us some precious pan juices. From the start, we knew this would be a tough assignment. Roasting a piece of meat that contains almost no fat presents an obvious challenge: how to keep it moist and juicy.

Many traditional recipes for baked chicken cutlets call for lots of butter and cream to keep the meat moist. While this undoubtedly works, the results are generally not as good as they are when similar dishes are made on the stove; the chicken does not brown when it sits in a bath of heavy cream. We think the oven makes sense only when there is a desire to keep the fat content to a minimum.

With that goal in mind, we started testing a number of variables—especially the temperature of the oven and the use of ingredients (other than cream) that might keep the chicken moist as it bakes. It was soon apparent that getting the chicken in and out of the oven as quickly as possible is key. The longer it stays in the oven, the drier it gets. High temperatures (we settled on a constant 450 degrees) cook the cutlets quickly and prevent dryness. Baking cutlets in a hot oven also causes some browning, which boosts flavor in what is otherwise a fairly bland piece of meat.

Roasting chicken cutlets at a high temperature is only part of the answer. The meat still tends to dry out, especially in spots where the cutlets are thin and toward the exterior. We needed to give the cutlets enough time to cook through in the center while protecting the outside layer of meat from becoming tough. It was clear that we needed to add moisture and, yes, a little fat. Adding a bit of oil (one-half tablespoon per cutlet) helps create the impression of moistness in the outer layer of meat and also promotes browning. Since cutlets are so bland, we use olive oil to add flavor as well.

We also found that liquids from moist vegetables, such as tomatoes and mushrooms, are essential in keeping the chicken from becoming tough and dry. Our testing showed that placing the vegetables both underneath and on top of the chicken was the best guarantee of moistness in the end. While the vegetables don't affect the interior of the cutlet, their juices do flavor and moisten the exterior layer, which is so prone to drying out in the oven.

We found that tomatoes could be treated differently from other vegetables, such as onions, mushrooms, fennel, and peppers. Tomatoes are so juicy and soften so quickly that they can go into the oven at the same time as the chicken. When using the other vegetables, we found it best to roast them first to bring their juices to the surface, then add the cutlets to the pan and continue baking until everything was tender. This two-stage cooking process (without and then with the chicken) lets harder vegetables soften up properly. When we put onions or peppers into the oven right along with the chicken, they would still be crunchy when the chicken was done. Therefore, we created two master recipes: one that covers the chicken with raw tomatoes and another that roasts vegetables first, then adds the chicken.

Bold flavorings also turned out to be key to our oven-baked dishes. Even if the meat is juicy, without seasonings, it's really not worth eating. Spices, garlic, and herbs all help. We also found brining of the breasts to be worth the minimal effort required. In fact, brining has a more pronounced effect on cutlets than it does on skin-on, bone-in breasts because in the latter the skin and bones contribute flavor and moisture. Even with the protective effects of juicy vegetables, unbrined cutlets will be a tad dry in spots when baked.

If you don't have time to brine, use smaller cutlets, which will cook through fairly quickly and spend minimal time in the oven. When we neglected to brine larger cutlets, we found them dry, especially in the outer layers.

We realized that our efforts had produced an unintended side effect. By baking chicken with vegetables as a protective measure, we had also created a nearly complete meal. With the addition of a leafy salad or a starch, dinner was done.